Marketing and implementing large-volume orders and major projects calls for specific types of expertise. This textbook deals with all of the management tasks involved: order management, inquiry evaluation and proposal preparation, pricing and revenue planning, order financing and financial engineering, contract management, negotiation management, project management, and finally project cooperation. Adopting a cross-sector perspective, it examines both traditional manufacturing industries and business-to-business services. All contributions are presented in an accessible style, making the book well-suited as both a managerial textbook and valuable practical guide.
In today's challenging commercial environment, many business projects are now categorized as strategic investment with the primary concern being value impact on an organization's bottom line. This title equips project managers with the skills necessary to effectively manage projects as strategic investments.
Commercial Project Management fills a void in the project management landscape. Project manager and author Robin Hornby considers commercial project management to be a neglected and poorly understood discipline, a situation he aims to rectify. His new book, with a wealth of ‘how to do it’ advice, explanatory illustrations, practical techniques, and proven checklists, will give contracted project managers a confidence boost and a head start in their demanding role. The book explains how standard projet management practices can be evolved to address the commercial setting and adopted by the professional services firm as a key part of its business operations. At the same time, their project managers must assume a new accountability to the firm’s business manager for revenue, must manage the space between sales and the client, and deal with other business matters defined by contract. This transforms many of the routine tasks and behaviors of the project manager, creates several new ones, and requires new skills. This is a how-to book for project and business managers working in a commercial environment looking for practical guidance on conducting their projects and organizing their firm.
Project Marketing: Beyond Competitive Bidding is the first English language book that focuses specifically on this important, emerging subject. Project marketing relates to the various marketing activities that take place prior to winning a contract. It deals with marketing of large and complex projects such as the construction of buildings and power stations. FEATURES * The authors are all leading international figures in the field of project marketing. Bernard Cova is co-founder and leader of The European Network on Project Marketing and System Selling. * The book provides models and methods that are necessary to develop a constructive approach to project marketing. * It contains more than 20 short cases drawn from a wide variety of industries e.g. aerospace, construction, engineering, transport and energy. The cases are truly international with examples from Europe, Asia, USA and Africa. Project Marketing: Beyond Competitive Bidding can be used a textbook for MBA and other masters-level courses in project marketing and project management. It will also be highly relevant for practitioners and participants in executive and in-company training programs.
IT projects emerge from a business need. In practice, software developers must accomplish two big things before an IT project can begin: find out what you need to do (i.e., analyse business requirements) and plan out how to do it (i.e., project management). The biggest problem in IT projects is delivering the wrong product because IT people do not understand what business people require. This practical textbook teaches computer science students how to manage and deliver IT projects by linking business and IT requirements with project management in an incremental and straightforward approach. Business Analysis, Requirements, and Project Management: A Guide for Computing Students presents an approach to analysis management that scales the business perspective. It takes a business process view of a business proposal as a model and explains how to structure a technical problem into a recognisable pattern with problem frames. It shows how to identify core transactions and model them as use cases to create a requirements table useful to designers and coders. Linked to the analysis are three management tools: the product breakdown structure (PBS), the Gantt chart, and the Kanban board. The PBS is derived in part from the problem frame. The Gantt chart emerges from the PBS and ensures the key requirements are addressed by reference to use cases. The Kanban board is especially useful in Task Driven Development, which the text covers. This textbook consists of two interleaving parts and features a single case study. Part one addresses the business and requirements perspective. The second integrates core project management approaches and explains how both requirements and management are connected. The remainder of the book is appendices, the first of which provides solutions to the exercises presented in each chapter. The second appendix puts together much of the documentation for the case study into one place. The case study presents a real-word business scenario to expose students to professional practice.
Project management is a critical skill across a broad range of disciplines. Yet most people, regardless of educational background, have never received training in how to plan, manage, and execute projects. Project Management Essentials, Second Edition, is the go-to book for tried and true project management skills combined with the most current ideas from Agile in a concise, up-to-date, user-friendly format. It follows the project life cycle and provides several ready-to-use templates. Readers can use this book to plan and manage a project from start to finish or as a reference for help with one particular component of project management. Alongside each template is a brief description of what each template is and why it is useful, with an example to illustrate it.
Project Management for Engineering, Business and Technology is a highly regarded textbook that addresses project management across all industries. First covering the essential background, from origins and philosophy to methodology, the bulk of the book is dedicated to concepts and techniques for practical application. Coverage includes project initiation and proposals, scope and task definition, scheduling, budgeting, risk analysis, control, project selection and portfolio management, program management, project organization, and all-important "people" aspects—project leadership, team building, conflict resolution, and stress management. The systems development cycle is used as a framework to discuss project management in a variety of situations, making this the go-to book for managing virtually any kind of project, program, or task force. The authors focus on the ultimate purpose of project management—to unify and integrate the interests, resources and work efforts of many stakeholders, as well as the planning, scheduling, and budgeting needed to accomplish overall project goals. This sixth edition features: updates throughout to cover the latest developments in project management methodologies; a new chapter on project procurement management and contracts; an expansion of case study coverage throughout, including those on the topic of sustainability and climate change, as well as cases and examples from across the globe, including India, Africa, Asia, and Australia; and extensive instructor support materials, including an instructor’s manual, PowerPoint slides, answers to chapter review questions and a test bank of questions. Taking a technical yet accessible approach, this book is an ideal resource and reference for all advanced undergraduate and graduate students in project management courses, as well as for practicing project managers across all industry sectors.
Despite tremendous growth in the project management profession and substantial proof that the profession has helped increase productivity and bottom line earnings, some senior-level executives are still fighting progress. Why is it so difficult to sell project management to senior executives? and How do you get them on board? are the main questions being answered in this pertinent book by Thomas, et al. After years of research, the authors report their findings in Phases I and II of this insightful book.
Streamline project workflow with expert agile implementation The Project Management Profession is beginning to go through rapid and profound transformation due to the widespread adoption of agile methodologies. Those changes are likely to dramatically change the role of project managers in many environments as we have known them and raise the bar for the entire project management profession; however, we are in the early stages of that transformation and there is a lot of confusion about the impact it has on project managers: There are many stereotypes and misconceptions that exist about both Agile and traditional plan-driven project management, Agile and traditional project management principles and practices are treated as separate and independent domains of knowledge with little or no integration between the two and sometimes seen as in conflict with each other Agile and "Waterfall" are thought of as two binary, mutually-exclusive choices and companies sometimes try to force-fit their business and projects to one of those extremes when the right solution is to fit the approach to the project It’s no wonder that many Project Managers might be confused by all of this! This book will help project managers unravel a lot of the confusion that exists; develop a totally new perspective to see Agile and traditional plan-driven project management principles and practices in a new light as complementary to each other rather than competitive; and learn to develop an adaptive approach to blend those principles and practices together in the right proportions to fit any situation. There are many books on Agile and many books on traditional project management but what’s very unique about this book is that it takes an objective approach to help you understand the strengths and weaknesses of both of those areas to see how they can work synergistically to improve project outcomes in any project. The book includes discussion topics, real world case studies, and sample enterprise-level agile frameworks that facilitate hands-on learning as well as an in-depth discussion of the principles behind both Agile and traditional plan-driven project management practices to provide a more thorough level of understanding.
The all-inclusive guide to exceptional project management The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management is the comprehensive guide to real-world project management methods, tools, and techniques. Practical, easy-to-use, and deeply thorough, this book gives you answers you need now. You'll find the cutting-edge ideas and hard-won wisdom of one of the field's leading experts, delivered in short, lively segments that address common management issues. Brief descriptions of important concepts, tips on real-world applications, and compact case studies illustrate the most sought-after skills and the pitfalls you should watch out for. This new fifth edition features new case studies, new information on engaging stakeholders, change management, new guidance on using Agile techniques, and new content that integrates current events and trends in the project management sphere. Project management is a complex role, with seemingly conflicting demands that must be coordinated into a single, overarching, executable strategy — all within certain time, resource, and budget constraints. This book shows you how to get it all together and get it done, with expert guidance every step of the way. Navigate complex management issues effectively Master key concepts and real-world applications Learn from case studies of today's leading experts Keep your project on track, on time, and on budget From finding the right sponsor to clarifying objectives to setting a realistic schedule and budget projection, all across different departments, executive levels, or technical domains, project management incorporates a wide range of competencies. The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management shows you what you need to know, the best way to do it, and what to watch out for along the way.